Man who lied about education must repay employer

A former Continuing Developmental Services Monarch Medicaid service coordinator who faked a college degree to get his job has been ordered repay some $14,000 in salary he collected from the agency.

In addition to the fine, Akin Ross, 38, of Rochester drew three years’ probation after pleading guilty in Webster Town Court to a petit larceny charge, state Attorney General Eric Schneiderman said Wednesday.

CDS, which provides support services to handicapped and developmentally disabled individuals, has been ordered to return more than $24,000 to the state’s Medicaid program as compensation for fees it collected for services Ross provided while working for a CDS facility in Webster.

Ross admitted to falsely claiming to have attended SUNY Brockport and using a phony diploma to get a job with CDS. He worked for the agency for an approximately eight-month period in 2006 and 2007, providing services to a brain-injured client and a developmentally delayed client.

State Medicaid regulations minimally require providers of such services to have an associate’s degree or be qualified as a registered nurse. Despite having never attended SUNY Brockport, Ross claimed to be a cum laude graduate of the school and to have earned a B.S.